Momotaro
Hali Momotaro is a character who first appeared in Samurai Jack Season 5 by Genndy Tartakovsky with her mother and baby sibling at the start of episode 1 before returning in the Samurai Jack Saga in Frozarburst's Toon Wars series. Originally saved by Jack in Aku's timeline, Hali had lost her family by the beetle drones chasing after them due to the change in history because of the Syndicate, and was taken under Anais Watterson's wing when she was forced into slave labor at the mines. Though she was openly cared for to an extent by her master. Eventually, when the Nicktoons along with Jack and Ashi had arrived to the alternate timeline, Momo was brought along with them and Anais to stop the Syndicate from activating their Time Drive and slowly learned how to be a fighter like them, eventually gaining the Samurai Spirit when Anais sacrificed herself to save her from Aku. Awakened, the newly dubbed Momotaro slain Aku when he was unprepared and helped disable the Time Drive. Since then, she has been an active member of the Toon Force and is considered one of the most skilled fighters of the organization thanks to her training with Jack and Ashi. She often rides with her pet dragon Firefly and is best friends with Bobert of the same timeline she came from. She reappears in Toon Wars: The Final Days along with the rest of the Toon Force as one of the main survivors of the initial virus attacks from the first two weeks of the event up to the confrontation against the Toon God and restoration of reality. Appearance Hali appeared in Samurai Jack and Toon Wars as a blue dog-like creature with red eyes, white hair, and a purple nose. She wore a torn brown shirt, has a short tail, and two antennae that generate electricity to form sentences or images. After the Samurai Jack Saga, Hali would be dubbed "Momotaro" and received her own white and grey samurai gi paying homage to Jack. As the series progressed, Momo grew slightly in size up to chest height for the adults in the Toon Force. Personality Hali initially was very fearful and shy in both the original series and her debut in Toon Wars. Though not much had been shown in Samurai Jack, she had begun showing more distinct traits in Toon Wars while serving for Anais Watterson, who was the only other person in her life who seemed to care for her to an extent. Though she still exhibited habits of snobby behavior, Hali was able to put up with it for a majority of the time without question. It was until Anais offered to let her travel with her to another world that Hali had truly begun to show gratitude toward her for even acknowledging her. Most especially for giving her somewhere to be after the loss of her family. Although she didn't mind laughing at the bunny in a playful manner when she got her clothes dirty. For the rest of the arc, Hali remains calm and doesn't express any hostility nor hesitation toward anyone of the heroes; even assisting them when they need her expertise until the finale where she nervously takes the initiative to try and return Jack's sword to him to slay Aku. After Anais sacrificed herself to save her, Momotaro's rage skyrocketed and caused her to lash out on Aku with the Samurai Spirit. But thankfully, Anais was able to be wished back and Momo was returned to happiness once more, wanting to train with Jack and Ashi to become a samurai almost like them. For the remainder of Toon Wars from the shorts and Echoes, Momo frequently sought to learn from others about a multitude of different activities and went on her own missions and journeys with her dragon Firefly. And often when she saw someone do something with such skill and grace, she would get excited and cheer them on. In Toon Wars: The Final Days, Momo is still notably calm and collective and wants to continue to learn new things even when all seems lost. The most telling display of her coolness was during the battle against the Toon Goddess, where despite all odds stacked against her, she was able to maintain her chill and even advise Richard Watterson to listen to the Toon Goddess when she hears enough from her to know that Nicole had a lot of frustration that needed to be let out. This would ultimately save everyone remaining in the onslaught as no one else were able to get through to the Toon Goddess until Richard followed Hali's suggestion. Biography Original Series and Samurai Jack Saga At the start of Samurai Jack Season 5, Hali and her family consisting of her mother and baby sibling were being pursued by a horde of Beetle Drones created for Aku's army. They were very quick to overrun them in the middle of the fields they escaped to and were just about finish them off to their dismay. With their texts from their antennae, Hali and her mother exchange that they love each other assuming they would be killed. But just in the nick of time, Jack with an armored motorbike and an alternative staff weapon attacks the drones in front of the family, notably a lot more violent than before and almost unrecognizable except to Hali after seeing his eyes. As Jack leaves after dismantling the rest of the robots, Momo thanks him with her native way of speaking. After the end of the original series, Jack went back in time to finally slay Aku, meaning Hali and her family would live a peaceful timeline. However, after the Syndicate warned Aku of his eventual demise, he created the Syndicate Timeline reminiscent of the one he would have ruled over by himself. In this alternate timeline, Hali's family and village were destroyed a lot quicker and mercilessly than before, and without Jack being present to save them, Hali was on her own in the deep deserted regions of the planet until she was found by Anais Watterson on one of her business ventures. Under Anais' wing, Hali was forced to work in slave labor for her and the Syndicate's empire, collecting precious resources from the mines in exchange for her safety and health. In comparison to most slaves at the time, Hali was the only one Anais recognized and kept close to her as though she were her daughter despite what she has her do every day. In addition to her feeling sympathy for her when she gives her a large diamond the Syndicate need. After proposing a new location to expand her reach, Anais asks Hali to join her on her journey, which they find to be abysmal upon discovering the Syndicate purposefully sent them to a junk planet to abandon Anais when her services were no longer required. Luckily, some members of the Toon Force along with Jack and Ashi were sent from the past and found the proper technology to escape. Hali is quickly recognized by Jack to his dismay seeing her without her loved ones. But he along with the Nicktoons vow to put an end to the Syndicate's evil in their honor. Hali keeps the Irken Portal Device on hand when the heroes are separated from a portal accident and meets Scotsman and is told the story of Momotaro, to which Jack names her after to her joy. When looking at certain characters battle others in the Syndicate Compound, Momo records their styles, almost visibly rehearsing them to herself. The High Priestess, however, appears and blows the Irken Device out of her hands, nearly destroying it. Thankfully, Zim repairs it using help from Momo's electricity from her antennae. The Daughters of Aku and their mother attempt an attack on the two of them, but the heroes intervene; Anais killing the High Priestess by deflecting a full powered blast from her. To better keep her out of harm's way, Anais suggests to Momo to stay with the Irken Device by the warp gates while the others battle the Syndicate, during which they nearly struggle over due to the ferocity of Aku's magic and the Time Drive. Future Bobert is blown out of the air with Jack's sword when Jack dropped it while fighting Aku, and lands back inside where Momo is. She jolts his body and reactivates him; the android suggesting to her that they quickly return to the heroes and use the sword to damage Aku while he's busy torturing them, which they do by slicing through his side. Anais panics when Momo and Bobert are cornered by the demon and the Syndicate alike. Quickly, she runs up to Momo in the way of Aku's blast protecting her but losing her life in the process. Though Aku gloats to himself over his success, Momotaro is awakened and attacks Aku and disables the Time Drive with Bobert's help. After gaining the upper hand from catching Aku off guard, she uses the sword to completely destroy him, proudly shouting her legendary name. However, the victory is bittersweet as Anais was still killed. Luckily, thanks to Scotsman severing the Time Drive's Fairy Cannon, the magic from Fairy World could be used to revive her. Anais is recovered thinking she would have shrugged off the attack that killed her, but the heroes confirm she couldn't. Nevertheless, Momo happily embraces her and in the end slays the past Aku and returns with the Nicktoons to the Toon Force, where she accepts Anais' request to be her step mother and forgives her snobbish and oppressive behavior prior to and at the start of the saga. Magiswords Echoes Momo returned 2 years after the end of the Samurai Jack Saga as the quickly improving apprentice of Samurai Jack and Ashi. She along with a majority of the Toon Force were tasked with drawing the invasion of the Echo Corp away from Rhybloflaven by the outskirts during the Siege of Rhybloflaven. Although Anais was reluctant to let her go out on the field without her, seeing how dangerous the drones from the station above were turning out to be, Hali was still insistent on going and accompanied the Savage Six and Combaticus to the outskirts to combat. Much like Bimm who was with her at the time, Momotaro was highly interested in learning from the veteran warriors. But when it came to Bimm, Momo looked to her like a fellow hero. At the end of the battle, she tended to the Toon Force and was met by Nyando, who was heavily attracted to her, much to her confusion. Toon Wars: The Final Days Momo returns training with Samurai Jack and Ashi as their apprentice, almost attacking them when she becomes invested in the exercise. 5 years later, she would be well regarded as the first and youngest Samurai Master after Jack. She then returns with Anais Watterson to Elmore once the coordinates to the world had been rediscovered thanks to her and Firefly after finding another Dimensional Monitor. She bids her step-father, Wulf, farewell before exiting. While there, she introduces herself to Richard Watterson and visits Elmore Junior High, hoping to attend school there to learn more about the world through Gumball's experience. It didn't take long before she becomes extremely weary when she feels the planet trembling due to the Virus Entity's influence. When both Elmore and Amity Park are slammed into each other, Momotaro managed to keep her and both Anais' safe from the impact but get lost in the ruins before Gumball and Penny can find them. She and the remainder of the Toon Force who survived the incident are briefed on the events going on in the multiverse, where a Virus Entity was beginning to corrupt and erase entire cartoons. Using an Antivirus created by Nora Wakeman and Professor Utonium, they can erase the virus at its core. But they'll have to travel to it in Dimsdale to administer the program. To get there, they use the Ghost Zone as a warp tunnel. But the only Ghost Portal available was being surrounded by corrupted ghosts and Crystal Gems as the dimension itself was slowly being consumed by the Void. When Danny Phantom is critically wounded by a virus-infected Amethyst, Momo, Cindy, and Anais fend him off. Connie tries to ambush Momo in the process, but the young samurai overpowers her but fails to save her when the Void sucks Connie away and erases her. After the run-in with the ghosts, the Toon Force escape to Dimsdale and travel further through the ruins until they're ambushed again by Enid, Raven, and Radicles, whom they too defeat. Only this time, Raven escapes while Rad and Enid are erased by the virus. They eventually stumble across the downed Dogstar Patrol ship and Mechanikat's space fortress, which they at first thought was abandoned so they could rest inside. The next day, Kevin Whitney and the Titan Pack agree to help the heroes get to the core of the virus faster by raising their downed ship once again. On their journey in the sky, the corrupted Teen Titans attack with the intention of rebooting reality to their liking. Momo fends them off with help from Sadie and Wanda before the Titans are beaten and deleted just as the ship reaches the Forgotten Society. Inside, they reunite with members of their team, including Wulf, who Momo immediately embraces. After being informed by Channel Chaser Timmy on surrounding events in the city, they make a run for the altar to meet up with Jimmy Neutron again. Only now, he too is somewhat manipulated realizing that they exist as cartoon characters. And that they only continue to live on their own because of the actions of the Syndicate breaking their perpetual loops and freezing from their shows ending or being cancelled. He goes into a panic, attacking Timmy and Danny believing the Virus can help them break the Fourth Wall to get justice for their network's mistakes, while the Shadowpuff Girls attack the rest of the team. Hali defends against Blossom's heat beams with Sadie, Scotsman, and Wulf and eventually defeat and delete them. Only for the corrupted version of Nicole Watterson, the Toon Goddess, to arrive shortly after the fight. She announces her and the Toon God's plan to erase and rewrite reality. Along with invading and conquering the real world. Hali, however, stands true to her beliefs despite all the odds and circumstances against her, taking on the corrupted Crystal Gems and their fusions. Super Obsidian, their final and most powerful combination, is soon defused and cleanses the Gems of the virus. But the Toon Goddess immediately bombards the Forgotten Society, killing almost all of the Toon Force except for Momo and a few who barely survived the blasts. Momo herself tries to counter one of the Goddess' blows by lunging her sword into her a few times, or cutting her legs. But neither attempt harms her in anyway. She is almost killed before Anais and Wulf attack the Toon Goddess in rage to defend their step daughter. While they fight, Richard questions why the Toon Goddess still carries Nicole's pain, which Momo suggests he may know the answer to, asking if she ever had any past frustrations with he and Elmore. Realizing this, he stands up to his corrupted wife and reasons with her, apologizing for his past mistakes that greatly influenced her thoughts, and even succeeding in splitting her from the virus. This, however, leaves the Toon Goddess as a separate being enraged and almost kills Bimm. Luckily, just as all hope seemed lost, Bimm merges with the Antivirus and uses it to stab right into the Toon Goddess. With Momo's help, they split her apart, causing the reality failsafe to activate. Reality resets everyone that remains to an earlier episode of their cartoons, taking Hali back to Samurai Jack Season 5 Episode 1 where she and her family are surrounded by Beetle Drones. However, seeing Jack's face as he proceeds to dismantle them instantly triggers Momotaro's memories prior to the reset, immediately reverting her to her combative state. She helps Jack take apart the rest of the drones before reality begins to glitch from her data interfering with the script. Her family fades away along with the pile of scrap metal from the fight. Since Jack knows how to recover his sword ahead of time, he asks Momo to help him clear his mind of his inner darkness, Mad Jack. She follows the instructions of the Monk in the spirit realm, making him tea and impressing him. He informs her how Jack can face up to his demons, allowing him access to do so. Afterward, he and Hali are transported to outer space before the three Gods who forged Jack's sword, who return both of their's to the samurai and let them know that the Toon God is still at large. In addition, they restore their memories and combat skills from the Toon Wars, alerting them to the rest of the events that follow. Together, they meet and defend against Scaramouche, convincing him that he is their friend and had been reset by the Toon Goddess. Later, they recover Noble and Ashi against the Daughters of Aku, whom they were forced to kill to escape. Momo smacks Ashi to regain her memories, successfully convincing her to rejoin them and confront Aku before Scotsman can engage him. Aku himself is conflicted on the matter concerning the Toon God, but Jenny and Wulf come to rescue their friends and bring them with them into the Void. Eventually, when Nicole Watterson is redeemed and finally regains her happiness, she teleports everyone besides Jimmy, Doug, Sam, and Danny to Clockwork's Lair before setting out to the events of Attack of the Toybots to find them. This leads to them fending against the horde of Toybots at the Professor's Lair, encountering Danny, Sam and Jimmy. When they question why Doug replaces Timmy here and seems perfectly intact from the reset, it leads to them realizing that he himself is the Toon God, seeking vengeance for the loss of his world in the Toon Wars and wanting to take over reality and the real world for himself. He tries to kill the survivors then and there, but they barely manage to avoid his attack. While reality is undergoing its final erasure, Bimm realizes that with the Antivirus absorbed into her, and all the fighters having their individual weapons and powers, she may be able to forge the once fabled Final Magisword, strong enough to purge both the Toon God and the virus. Each lended their weapons, Momo getting a spare blade from Ashi. While Bimm and Nicole prepared the sword, Momo among others stayed behind to protect them. She is crushed, however, when Rose Quartz gives her life away to finish the sword with her very Gem, powerful enough that it completes the Final Magisword allowing for everyone to return to battle the Toon God, now aided by the Teen Titans, Captain Zange and her pirates, Mechanikat's fleet, and Turbo and Fink. During the battle, Hali is almost attacked by the Toon God, but is rescued by Nyando. She then summons her dragon, Firefly, to pick them up. Soon the battle turns to the Toon Force's favor until the Toon God attempts to delete all of reality itself. But with the sacrifice of Spongebob Squarepants and Familiar, Bimm is angered enough that she completely dismantles the Toon God, giving everyone a chance to delete the virus from the Fourth Wall controls. When the controls are unlocked, Momotaro approves Jimmy Neutron to make the final decision, choosing to restore reality. Stats Prior to the end of the Samurai Jack Saga, Hali had virtually no combat experience. Rather instead, either running or observing the fights for herself. Thanks to her photographic memory, she could mimic the styles of both Jack and Ashi to such a degree that when it came to training, it didn't require as much practice to master. Her first test involved facing Aku, who at the time almost had the heroes killed and was taken by surprise from her and Bobert. Using her rage from the shock of Anais' sacrifice to save her, she channeled enough strength that she overcame Aku's fiery blasts and got close enough that she was able to stun him and cut him down. She acknowledges, however, that in spite of her tremendous success where Jack had previously failed, she only won thanks to her anger. Almost immediately, when Anais is resurrected, Hali cancels that half of her out, reverting to being calm. This serenity within Momotaro essentially allowed her to unlock various abilities akin to the Samurai, often to greater effect. She's very much faster in combat speed and sprinting than Jack thanks to her small size, can "jump good" according to Ashi, meaning she is able to leap to extreme heights, and can take damage fairly well. Against the Echo Drones during the Siege of Rhybloflaven, Hali seems to not have been injured in the slightest, even when in close contact with explosive rounds. Against the corrupted forces of the Virus Entity, she is at times hurt, but never seeming to the point of near death. Save for the Toon Goddess' energy wave draining her and other fighter's stamina; which she would quickly recover from. Unlike the rest of the survivors of the villain's attack, next to Bimm, only Hali was able to stand up to help her deliver the final blow. A similar situation would occur with the Daughters of Aku, who Jack had trouble with the first and second time around. While Jack notably would still sustain heavy damage and be pinned several times, along with Scaramouche being forced to move constantly to avoid any attacks, only Hali kept up without losing her guard. Tactically, Momotaro is able to direct Firefly, possibly others as well very efficiently without ever putting them in direct danger, pointing them to weaknesses with the enemy. She also makes for a great healer for both organic and android types, using the electricity from her antennae to shock them and give them a boost of energy. Sometimes, due to her primarily using them to speak, it can be seen as a weakness, either from communication through emojis, or an obvious weak spot for one to grab. This, thankfully, has never been exploited. Trivia * Hali's name was at first unknown by Frozarburst when drafting her for Toon Wars, but was added in later as her real name following the Samurai Jack Saga. Momotaro is just a nickname. * Momotaro is one of many minor/background characters Frozarburst developed into characters for the main cast. The first time doing this was most prominently featured in the Magiswords Trilogy. * Nyando has a crush on Hali. Though she isn't fully accustomed to loving relationships as seen on the right. Much like Jack was with Ashi. * In terms of story, Momotaro favors Bimm in many ways: ** Both were nicknamed "Destiny Child" ** Both had overcome their limitations and fought a greater force ** Both had lost a multitude of people that were close to them at one point ** They both have magic swords ** Both are great learners but tend to be very shy * She also seems to favor Adorabat from Mao Mao in that both take on a student/mentor role. In addition to both learning rather quickly the first time they take note of how others fight or react. * Hali is older than Gumball by one year, 14. She is 19 by the time of Toon Wars: The Final Days. * It is unknown whether or not Hali's family, as well as a version of herself, still exists the same as they were in Samurai Jack. However, it is hinted through Abi that it's very likely the case. * In some art, Hali's nose is accidentally miscolored black instead of blue. Category:Characters Category:Samurai Jack Category:Samurai Jack Saga Category:Toon Wars Category:Momotaro Category:Hali